Bangkok baby, yeah!

We decided to spend a day in Bangkok as we had to stop over here on our way to Koh Phayam (very excited about going to Koh Phayam).

We found ourselves a nice (cheap-ish) hotel with a pool. The reviews all said that it was in a very good location. I don't know what these reviews are going on about. Bangkok is freaking massive and we didn't seem to be near anything. The notice board in the hotel lobby had a few suggestions for what to see in the immediate area, including going to the local Tescos which is just over the road. We might check that out tomorrow.

We left in the morning without much of a plan. I'd asked Trip Advisor what to do in Bangkok and it listed some Wats that we should see. It also went on about some old CIA guys house... I think he invented silk or something. His name is Jim Thomson and his house is apparently a big deal in Bangkok. I Googled it and it looks suspiciously like a regular house. I don't think this bodes well for Bangkok.

We decided to get a boat along the canals. It seemed like a fairly easy and nice way to see a lot of the city. It was very nice.

Bangkok seems to be a weird mix of a Singapore type city with big malls and Starbucks's together with some slums on stilts sitting on the water. I preferred the slums.

I think we were meant to go through the floating market, but we really just saw one boat that tried to sell us stuff. We bought some over-priced beer from him and he finally let go of our boat and went on his way. 

We got dropped off near the palace and Wat Pho. This was handy as it gave us something else to do.

I liked Wat Pho, it was no Angkor Wat, but it was very nice and shiny. It also has the big fat reclining Buddha in it. I think all Buddha's should recline, it suits him.

There were a lot of Buddha's around here and it was all very bling and and nice, but it was so hot that after a bit it's hard to maintain interest in them all. I did like these ones though:

And there were a load of cool statues that were guarding the Buddhas and their bling.

(He's about to do a little dance)

Then we thought we'd go and see the palace, but we weren't allowed in (although other people were definitely going in). But that was ok with me - it was hot and I wanted to go and have a little swim by this stage anyway.

Things all seem a little more difficult in Bangkok than the rest of Thailand. People seem to speak less English and the city is far less geared up for ferangi's. This is fair enough obviously, it's a proper city for Thai people to live and work in, but I still found it a bit hard.

We met a chain smoking Brazilian/Italian women here who is on holiday for 2 weeks in Bangkok. I can't imagine why anyone would want to do that. One day is enough.

Tomorrow we get a night bus to Ranong. It will arrive at 4 in the morning, from there we go to the wonderful Koh Phayam (did I mention I was excited about going there?)